Oh, Well, It's a Fairy Tale
by Sqydd
Summary: Prompts for Nalu Fluff Week 2018 September 8th - Semptember 14th 1. Confession 2. Kisses 3. Comfort/Blanket 4. Sunset 5. Adventure 6. Protection 7. Future BONUS Semptember 7th September 15th 1. Candy/Colourful 2. Plushies
1. Obsessed With Fourteenth Street

**SEPTEMBER 7TH — CANDY/COLORFUL**

 **"** **Obsessed with Fourteenth Street"**

"Natsu," said Gray calmly, "get out of my fucking car."

"Dude, chill out," Natsu said scathingly as he clicked the seatbelt in place. Gray turned the ignition off and folded his arms across his chest.

"I swear, if you tell me to go to that street again, I'll chuck you through the window."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"If you make me say it, I'll chuck you through the window while I'm driving, ash-for-brains."

"Okay but I don't see why you don't like Fourteenth Street. It has the best ice cream shop in Magnolia and that Nab guy makes the best hot dogs and the taco truck is so good—"

"The fact that your reasons all revolve around food notwithstanding," Gray interrupted dryly, "you and I both know why you really want to go there." Natsu pouted and fell back against the leather seat.

"Fine, I'm obsessed with Fourteenth Street. There, will you take me now?" Gray stared at him for several long seconds before turning the key.

"Get the Lyft app or something. I'm tired of chauffeuring your ass, Dragneel."

"Yeah, yeah," he grinned, knowing the worst of it was over with.

"And you're introducing me."

"Wait, what?" He snapped his head to Gray as he pulled onto the main road.

"I want to see her. Got a problem? The door's right there."

"Fine!" he said, infinitely more annoyed. "But you're not gonna make me look bad."

"Who, _me?_ " Gray said innocently with the biggest shit-eating grin humanly possible. "Nah. Never."

He only sunk into his scarf with grumbled complaints as a response.

* * *

In downtown Magnolia, there was a central avenue that crossed the city north to south. On one side street of that avenue — accurately called Fourteenth Street — there had been a temp agency between a liquor store and a bar. Then, as Fiore's unrest between the neighboring country of Alvarez ended and government funds could be more feasibly allocated, the neighborhood improved, and there was no longer a need for a temp agency. The big letters atop the awning, LOVE & LUCKY, had faded with time, and the "K" had long since fallen away, letting it spell LUCY instead of LUCKY. Nowadays, Natsu thought it to be more than coincidental.

The place had become a candy shop, so it was mostly kids under the age of ten that populated it whenever he showed up. The place was themed with orange, red, and purple, but the jars of candy spread about added each hue from the rainbow and then some. The glass display window was edged with two arm chairs, and there was a small bookcase with beat-up copies of Amelia Bedelia and Thomas the Train Engine. Their stuff was good, there was no questioning that even if Natsu preferred spicy over sweet, but he also supposed the store's popularity had something to do with the same reason he was, as Gray put it, "obsessed with Fourteenth Street."

The girl who worked the most shifts was named _Lucy H._ , according to her candied-apple styled name tag. Under her orange cap, her pale blond hair hung in straight locks down her back, and her eyes were deep brown and super warm. The silver bell jingled as they opened the door and Lucy glanced up at him and Gray over the two elementary schoolers grabbing for a jar of black licorice. Her lips pulled into a warm smile.

"Hey, Natsu," she said easily before returning her attention to the kids. Natsu felt a goofy smile grow on his face as Gray whistled.

"She's cute."

"Yup."

"So," he said calmly, "when are you gonna ask her out?"

"Who, me? Nah," he said, waving the idea off. "She's... _the people's Lucy,_ ya know?"

"I literally don't have any clue what you're talking about."

"I mean — I mean, she's too nice to belong to one person. I don't wanna hold her up and deprive others of how — of how _great_ she is." He sunk into his scarf and rubbed the back of his head, avoiding Gray's stare burning into the side of his face.

"Natsu?"

"What?"

"You're perhaps the dumbest person I've ever met." Natsu spun around with a growl, fist raised, but Gray was smiling as he said it. He stopped Natsu with a hand on his shoulder. "Honestly? The dumbest, but with the best heart."

"Uh...thanks?" He didn't usually get compliments from Gray — read: never — so it stopped him short a second. He shied away and stuffed his hands into his cargo pockets.

"Have you talked to her?"

"A li'l," he mumbled into the fabric. Lucy suddenly laughed and, taking down a jar of Ring Pops, offered one each to the little boy and girl. They squealed happily and hugged her around the waist, earning a flustered smile and giggle from her. Natsu echoed the smile and shifted his feet. Gray looked at him again and realized _Shit, he's really in it deep._

"You don't just like her."

"Shut up," he said, more embarrassed than anything. Gray nodded and looked at her again.

"Hey, Lucy, are you free this weekend? Cuz this moron here wants to take you to the movies." He repelled Natsu with a hand as he started swinging, saying an indecipherable stream of obscenities as he did so. Lucy blinked twice in surprise, then a pink blush crossed her cheeks and she hid under the brim of her hat.

"He doesn't look too willing..." The disappointment in her voice stopped Natsu short, and he crossed the store too quickly to be believed, grabbing her wrists.

"I do! I do!" he said, grin returned full force. Again, she was taken aback, but that quickly turned to laughter. "...You're laughing with me, right?" Gray sighed loudly.

 _Idiot,_ he thought. Then, as much as he wanted to stare at them laughing and blushing (not), he had to ask: "You won't be asking me to drive you there too, will you?"


	2. One Trick Pony

**SEPTEMBER 8TH — CONFESSION**

 **"** **One Trick Pony"**

"So, what are you doing for the talent contest?" Mira asked amiably as she dropped a match in Natsu's mug of whiskey, lighting it aflame. He was just reaching for the handle when her words sunk in.

"Talent contest? What talent contest?"

"Oh, you haven't heard? Makarov started it when Gajeel and Gray were arguing about the other being a one trick pony." He cocked his head to the side in confusion.

"What's that?"

"Someone who only has one real talent," she explained. "Anyway, Makarov brought up the idea of a contest, and half the Guild was up for the idea. It's happening at the end of the week."

"What? That's three days away!" Gajeel, who'd been sitting nearby, looked up with a chuckle.

"Should be easy fer ya...if ya ain't a one trick pony." Natsu growled as he slid off the barstool and clenched his fists.

"I'm no one trick pony! I got loads of talent that I'll shove up your ass come the end of the week!"

"Might wanna retire that insult," Macao suggested from a side table. Natsu exhaled twin streams of smoke from his nose as he glared daggers at Gajeel.

"Such as?" Gajeel rolled his wrist expectantly, leaning comfortably against the bar and raising his chin to grin nastily. Natsu's fists shook for a few seconds before he spun away on his heel.

"Chht! I don't need to prove anything to you! You'll see."

He grabbed a random mission at the board and flashed it at Mira before heading through the doors. He barely looked at the paper until he reached the edge of town — he only wanted a way out of failing to protest his status as a one trick pony. He kicked open the door to his house and grabbed his travel pack as he scanned the request. It was just clearing some wolves from a farm over in Onibus — it'd take a day and a half to get there and back, not much time at all. He could leave Happy at Wendy's place (not that the cat was rushing to go anywhere, being close to Charla and all) and just rush through it. Hopefully, inspiration would strike somewhere along the way.

He opened the door to see Lucy coming up the path and he raised his eyebrows. Lucy rarely came over unless she wanted to spring one of her surprise cleaning sessions on him (which she rarely did lately, having realized Natsu and Happy spent more time at her apartment than their house) and so her reasoning was a mystery to him. Peering closer, he noticed she was oddly fidgety, her hands fisting and relaxing in the loose fabric of her white top as she stared fixedly at one foot going in front of the other. And — was she blushing a little?

"You weren't at the Guild," she began uneasily, scuffing her heel in the dirt. His eyebrows rose higher.

"Yeah, cuz I was here. What's up?"

"...Where's Happy?" she said after a little pause, looking over his shoulder. He folded his arms across his chest.

"He's with Charla… Did you want to talk to him or something?"

"No! No," she repeated in a calmer voice, raising her head. "Natsu, what I wanted to say was—wait, you're leaving?"

"Just for a couple of days. It's a short mission."

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"I...wanted to do one alone." _To come up with a talent I can shove in Redfox's face._ "We'll still do missions together. I'd hate to leave you and the team," he said with a grin. For some reason, that made Lucy blush harder. "So, you're gonna say something?"

"No, I...it can wait," she said after a moment, clearing her throat. "...Yeah, it can wait. Good luck on your mission." The last bit came out in a jumble as she turned and stiffly started back up the path. A second passed before she started muttering angrily to herself. His eyebrows went up to his hairline.

 _That was...weird. Even by Lucy standards._

* * *

The mission passed without a hitch — in fact, it was rather boring. He just waved his flaming fists and the wolves scattered with tails between their legs. Okay, he added some growls in there too, just for his own pleasure. Even so, he wished he'd picked a more interesting time waster.

The first thing he did when he returned to Magnolia was make a beeline for Lucy's apartment. He still had his backpack and everything, but it was just habitual by that point. He scaled the wall and jiggled her window open before rolling onto her bed. He swung his pack off his shoulders and tossed it in the corner—

—where it narrowly missed Lucy, fresh from the bathroom with a towel barely covering her privates.

They stared wide-eyed at each other until the pack hit the ground, and the sound of his pots and bandages hitting the ground startled her into motion. She let out a wildly ear-piercing scream and fled back into the bathroom, slamming the door shut. Aside from his now bleeding ears, the situation wasn't unusual. The unusual part came where she followed it up with muttering that had an odd cadence, like she was arguing with herself. He smirked at the sound, then open-mouthed horror dawned on his face and he fisted his hands in his hair.

"AUUGH I WAS SUPPOSED TO COME UP WITH A PLAN AND I DIDN'T STUPID GAJEEL'S GONNA THINK I _AM_ A ONE TRICK PONY!"

He heard the bathroom door open, but he already dove through the window again, sprinting through the streets and back to his home. He noted Lucy cleaned the place when he kicked the door open but stood to admire it for two seconds before tossing everything out of place again, wildly searching for anything he could display as a talent.

Happy flew in thirty minutes later, when there was no floor to be spoken of, only dashed possessions and upended furniture. He let out a huge sigh when he saw Natsu's legs poking out from a pile of Phantom Lord rubble. "What's going on?"

"Happy..." Natsu let out a pitiful groan. "I'm a one trick pony."

"What?"

"I don't have anything to do for the talent content."

"Well, you can swallow a whole boar's leg," he pointed out.

"Don't think that's a worthwhile talent." Happy shrugged and let his pack down on what was once their couch. "Wait, are you gonna be in it?"

"Yeah! Me and Charla've been practicing our _boke_ and _tsukkomi_ routine." Natsu let out a defeated breath. "It's tomorrow. What're you gonna do?"

"Well, I'm not staying home for Gajeel to think I quit. I'm gonna show...and hopefully bullshit something on the spot."

* * *

The morning of the talent show had the Guild even louder than usual. It made it easier for Natsu to hide in the back of the crowd and let the others take center stage. Makarov headed off the affairs with a half-full mug of beer, then Gray was the first one up. And would you look at that, the Ice-prick could spin some damn plates.

"You call that a talent?" Natsu muttered, folding his arms across his chest. Though he was being petulant and he knew it; Gray was balancing plates on his nose, chin, elbows, and toe. It was also a whole lot better than the load of nothing Natsu brought to the table.

Next up was Gajeel who, of course, took up a guitar. Then again, without his raucous singing behind it, he actually knew how to play. He caught Natsu's eye as he finished and gave him a huge shit-eating grin. The line continued: Macao baked; Wakaba was _uncannily_ flexible; Romeo juggled; Mira threw eight darts at the bull's-eye blindfolded; Erza...could recite all principalities of Fiore holy shit; Nab could stand completely still for fifteen minutes because _of course_ ; Laki could spray paint; and the waiting members quickly diminished until Natsu realized he was the last one to go. Happy and Charla, the ones before him, had barely flown off-stage before Gajeel shouted up:

"Oi, Dragneel, get yer ass up there!"

All eyes fell on Natsu as he was rehearsing his invisibility routine. He sunk into his scarf and made sure to flash Gajeel both fingers as he trotted through the crowd. He hopped the few stairs to the stage and met the eyes of the entire Guild. "Well, get on with it!" Gramps called from the back, waving his mug in the air. Natsu crossed his arms tight enough to cut off circulation and turned his head away from them.

"Fullbuster, ya smell that?" Gajeel called.

"Yeah, smells kinda like horse ass."

"Nah, that's the stench of a one trick pony!"

Laughs began to rise and the tips of Natsu's ears burned. "I ain't no damn one trick pony!" he yelled back, clenching his fists.

"Well then, _do something!_ " Gajeel retorted. Natsu growled but made no moves. His ears twitched at the sound of someone else coming onstage, and he turned to see Lucy standing at the other end. He was surprised she didn't perform for the contest, show-off that she was. Moreover, she was standing straight with her fists clenched at her sides, even with a red blush taking over her face.

"What are you doing?" he said in confusion, turning to face her. Her eyes bugged and she looked away, seemingly with second thoughts, then she clapped her cheeks and whipped her head back to face him.

"I love you, you stupid firebreather!"

The silence that followed was deafening, except he maybe heard a "Really, Lu-chan…?" somewhere from the back. The words bounced around his skull before realigning, and when he finally understood, a grin split his face.

"You love me, Lucy!" he said with a wild laugh, rushing forward to lift her in the air by her waist. She screamed unhappily as he spun her around. He eventually stopped when she started pulling his hair, and he held her tight against his body as he purred into the crown of her head. She fisted the side of his neck before gently grasping his shoulders.

"You're not...upset?" she whispered.

"Why would I be? Do I look? I'm happy, so happy!" He knew he was babbling a little but couldn't be bothered to care. He pulled away from her long enough to appreciate her small, relieved smile before pressing his lips against hers. She made a noise of surprise, then one of pleasure, which quickly turned to giggles when he pulled away and rubbed his face into her neck, her hair, trying to map together "Lucy's scent" and "my love" in his mind. _My best friend, the most important human in my world, and she loves me!_ The thought made him purr all over again, and he missed Levy's coy words:

"Well, he's not exactly a one trick pony. It takes talent to be that affectionate."


	3. mal de coucou

**SEPTEMBER 9TH — KISSES**

 **"** **mal de coucou"**

 _n._ a phenomenon in which you have an active social life but very few close friends—people who you can trust, who you can be yourself with, who can help flush out the weird psychological toxins that tend to accumulate over time—which is a form of acute social malnutrition in which even if you devour an entire buffet of chitchat, you'll still feel pangs of hunger.

* * *

Contrary to widespread belief, Lucy was not a bimbo. She indeed had bright blond hair and a body to turn heads for miles, but she was also captain of the Debate team and possessed the fifth highest GPA of all southern Fiore universities. But ninety percent of people looked at her and thought _this is someone I can take advantage of,_ and so she held most at arm's length. Her contacts list was a perfect representation of this: _Father, Police, Levy-chan, Brandish-neechan, 911_. It didn't become a problem until she was stuck on the side of Central Avenue with a flat tire and a class beginning in twenty minutes. And no friends who could drive.

After calling the tow company, she collected her things and hustled to the subway. It was an eight-minute walk from where her car was; she made the run in three, but she had to take off her heels and stepped in something that might've been gum at one point. The train ticket cost her the last of her cash until her next paycheck, so she wasn't going to get the car repaired anytime soon. And then, as the train pulled up, the wind blew the skirt of her dress before she could react.

"Mommy, what kinda undies are those?" the four-year-old standing next to her asked her mother, who was blushing at the sight of them. It had nothing on Lucy's blush as she swung her bag around and pressed it against her crotch.

 _Seriously, today blows hard._

The doors open and she slid her way into the closest seat without making eye contact with anyone. Soon the train was gliding along the tracks and she let out a relieved sigh. With her luck, she expected it to stall before it started moving again. She set her bag next to her and instead moved to grip the hem of her dress hard.

"Hey, d'ya mind if I sit there?"

She looked up to see a pink-haired guy about her age holding onto the support bar and pointing at the seat. He had two sets of silver hoops in each ear and a splint across his nose, which did nothing to hide the browning bruise set dead-center in his face. She smiled and politely shook her head.

"I have a friend making her way from the rear who'll sit there. I'm sorry."

He scrunched his nose, grimaced a little in pain, then said in a flat voice, "You sound more plastic than a Barbie doll." She choked in surprise.

"W-What?"

"Okay." He lifted her bag into his lap and plopped himself next to her, waving a hand as he spoke. "It's okay if you don't want to exchange social security numbers with me, but it's just a seat. No need to be cold about a seat."

"I'm not being cold, I said I have a—"

"Friend, yeah." His tone said exactly how much he believed her. "Usually it's a) you think I'm gonna steal your purse or b) you're not a people person. And considering these feel like thirty pounds of textbooks," he lifted her bag with a small grunt, "you just don't like people, right?"

An indignant blush crossed her cheeks and she turned away from him, her ponytail swinging over her shoulder. "You may sit there if you really want to."

"I'm already sitting here, weirdo," he said quite smugly. She spun around with a bigger blush and raised fists.

"You're the weirdo here, if anything, you—you—" She pounded his chest which did nothing to stop his laughter, but to his credit, his body felt solid as a rock under his grey hoodie. "What gives you the right to talk about me like you know me?"

"Freedom of speech?" he said passively. Fuming, she snatched her bag and moved to her feet.

"You can have the whole seat." She attempted to storm away, but the gummy substance on her foot caused her to trip. A calloused hand grabbed her wrist before she fell, and she was pulled back into a hard body that smelled a lot like smoky incense.

"Careful, you could hurt yourself." He sounded genuinely concerned for her wellbeing, which made her pull away with a downcast look.

"Why would you care? You don't know me."

"Do I have to know you to care if you get hurt?" She heard him shrug and turned around, but she kept her head down.

"That's typically how it works. I know tons of people, but I can count on one hand how many would go out of their way if I ended up in the hospital tomorrow."

"Then you don't really know tons of people." He paused, then, "Have a boyfriend?"

"What—why?" she exclaimed with pink cheeks. He simply stared at her and she eventually muttered a no.

"Okay. At least you don't mess around with people's hearts." He paused again, then he made a cute little happy noise she expected more from a puppy. "You're really smart, you're big about school, you're not a people person, you're kinda a weak hitter—" he laughed when she pouted, "—and you don't have a boyfriend. How many people can say they know all that about you?"

"I..." She trailed away and chewed her lower lip. "...only you."

"What, me?" He said it so loudly the other passengers turned to them in interest. Lucy quickly sat down again and he joined her, body angled towards her curiously.

"My best friend doesn't know…I don't have a boyfriend," she admitted. He raised his eyebrows, and slowly a wide grin grew on his face. She returned a small smile after a moment.

"I'm Natsu," he said, offering a hand.

"Lucy Hea...Lucy." She noted how her hand was dwarfed by his, and how warm his was.

"Lucy." His smile widened. "Wanna kiss?"

"What?" she shrieked, completely red in the face. All the passengers in the car turned towards them and Natsu broke out laughing.

"A kiss!" He rummaged in his pocket before pulling out a half-empty bag of Hershey's Kisses. She peeked up at it and relaxed slightly with a short laugh.

"Oh. Well, I suppose." She took one and peeled away the grey wrapping. It was, like his hand, uncomfortably warm, but she never refused chocolate. For the rest of the train ride, they talked about random interests and found they had a lot in common, mainly this obscure anime she didn't know anyone else watched, but Natsu was a dedicated fan of _Fairy Tail_.

Eventually the train came to a stop and people started shuffling through the doors. Lucy stood and smoothed her dress. "This is my stop."

"Alright, see ya." He stood and held out her bag, which she grabbed with both hands. She stared at the little note where she'd scribbled his contact information and smiled.

"I have some kisses too. Want one?"

"Hmm? Well, sure," he said with a shrug. Lucy's smile widened before she moved up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his. The contact lasted a second since she was rushing, but she didn't miss his bug-eyed expression and cute pink blush.

"Better than yours?" she asked, stepping off the train. He shook his head to clear it and grinned so wide it looked painful.

"You'll find out next time I see you."

* * *

 **keyframe**

 _n._ a moment that seemed innocuous at the time but ended up marking a diversion into a strange new era of your life—set in motion not by a series of jolting epiphanies but by tiny imperceptible differences between one ordinary day and the next, until entire years of your memory can be compressed into a handful of indelible images—which prevents you from rewinding the past, but allows you to move forward without endless buffering.


	4. I'm Your Dragon

**SEPTEMBER 10TH — COMFORT/BLANKET**

 **"** **I'm Your Dragon"**

"Dummy!" Lucy threw her doll at Natsu's head. He caught it and sent her a wolfish grin as he dangled Michelle by her right foot.

"No, this doll's the dummy. Just like her owner." A pink blush covered her cheeks and she leapt at him.

"Give her back!" He sidestepped the move and raised his eyebrows.

"You threw her at me, you don't want her. Happy'll love to eat her for dinner—"

"Mama!" she suddenly wailed, wiping the smile from Natsu's face. He put out his lip and stomped his foot.

"No fair! Daddy!"

Layla came in first, sweeping Lucy into her arms. Lucy nestled her face in Layla's chest with a sniffle. "Mama, Natsu took my dolly."

"Nuh-uh! She threw it at me!" he complained, raising his fists. He felt a big hand clamp around them, then an arm go around his waist, lifting him in the air. "Lemme go, dammit!"

"Oh, boy, I should really start watching what I say around you, huh?" Daddy sighed as he took the doll from Natsu's grip easily. Natsu shouted up a storm but went ignored as Daddy turned to Lucy. "He didn't damage your doll, did he?"

"Nuh-uh, Mr. Igneel," she said nicely. (Why didn't she ever talk to him that nicely? _Grr._ )

"You know, Lucy, Natsu only teases you so much because he likes you," Layla smiled. Lucy gasped while Natsu snorted loudly.

"As if! She's a _girl!_ " he said to explain. Daddy, for some reason, found it funny.

"Girls are typically who boys like. Of course, I wouldn't care much if you didn't follow that standard—" He stopped when Natsu started squirming and he set Natsu down.

"Can we go outside already? It stopped raining _hours_ ago."

"Layla, should we punish insubordination?" Daddy asked her, but he was holding back laughs when he did.

"I suppose..." She gasped as Lucy wriggled from her arms and set her down, where she and Natsu ran laughing to the back door. "Don't get too dirty!" she warned.

"Natsu, get the lock," Lucy grumbled, her little hands just missing it by a few inches. He grinned wide as he stood on his toes and pulled it out, then shoved the door open. They were greeted by the backyard in its wet glory, plants shining in the sun and mud puddles as far as the eye can see. Lucy bent over to undo her shiny black shoes while Natsu leapt off the deck and into the closest one he saw, which went as deep as half of him. A big wave jumped when he did it and Lucy cried out at the cold temperature.

"Move faster, weirdo!" he said, getting to his feet. He was absolutely caked in brown and black mud and could care less. (Or _couldn't?_ Daddy said he could never get it right.) Lucy finally kicked off her shoe and stood straight, giving Natsu a devious (adult word!) look that went against her cutesy look.

"Cannon ball!" she shouted as she jumped into the puddle, throwing up a second wave. He put out his hands to protect his face and ignored Daddy's upset groan as he grinned at Lucy, taking her hand in his.

"Come on, let's keep going!"

They jumped and splashed around in the mud, tossing thick balls of it at each other and crawling under the blackberry bush to snatch and eat the clean ones. Then, because Lucy asked and he felt like doing it, they went to smell the still-wet flowers around the fence, and he even allowed her to stick some into his hair. He never liked to comb it or anything because it already looked girly enough by itself, let alone decorate it, even if Daddy offered him to pick dinner, but if _Lucy_ wanted to...hmm, it wasn't _too_ bad, he supposed.

"Now you're the fairy prince!" she declared, poking his neck with a stick. He spun around and threw his fists in the air.

"I'm not a fairy, I'm a dragon!" She pouted and folded her arms across her once-blue dress.

"Nuh-uh! Cuz I'm the fairy princess, and you can't be in the castle too unless you're the prince!"

"Fine! I fly around outside, keeping you locked up," he grinned, raising his hands with his fingers bent into claws. Lucy huffed and turned away.

"Natsu wouldn't do that. And I'd be all alone if you weren't in there too." He frowned when she said that and his arms fell to his sides.

"I'm a dragon," he repeated, getting annoyed. "But not the mean one. Daddy told me dragons are no-ble and nice and brave. I'm the one that watches for bad guys so's I can kick their ass, and so's you can be safe." She blushed a little beneath all the mud on her face and pushed his shoulder with a wide smile.

"Okay, that's fine."

"I know it is."

"Okay, you mud monsters, get in here so you can eat," Daddy called from the door.

"Great, 'm starvin'!" Natsu declared, trudging past the mess they made to the smell of chicken in the air. Suddenly a blonde blur came zipping by him.

"Race ya!" Lucy said. Natsu grinned and chased after her across the yard. He slowed when he noticed Daddy, instead of smiling or shaking his head, looked worried. Why worried?

"Lucy, wait, the mud is slipper—"

Lucy came to the deck and was about to jump the six-inch difference, but she slid on the mud and fell forward. Daddy reached down but he didn't catch her before her head bounced against the wood. There was a second of silence before Lucy's crying, loud and pained, filled the air, and Natsu _hated_ the sound with all his heart. It made his stomach go cold and funny and clouded his head.

"Lucy!" Layla came running and dropped to her knees, her jeans getting dirty from all the splashed mud, and she pulled Lucy's back on her lap. Natsu moved forward and saw a nasty bruise growing on her forehead, and she was still wailing at the top of her lungs. Layla whispered to her and held her and pushed her muddy hair from her face. "At least it's not bleeding," she muttered. Then she stood up with Lucy. "Sorry, Igneel, Natsu, but we'll be heading ho—"

"No!" Natsu cried before she could finish, even though Daddy taught him it was rude to interrupt. He jumped to the deck and tugged on the bottom of Lucy's dress. "Don't go, don't go!"

"Natsu, Lucy's hurt, I think she'd like to be at her home," Daddy said, putting his hand on Natsu's shoulder. Natsu pulled away and tugged harder, feeling his eyes get hot and itchy.

"No, nonono!" And even though he was older and a boy, the brave dragon, he burst into tears. Because he didn't protect Lucy like a dragon would, and because he couldn't make her stop crying. Daddy put his hand on Natsu's head and Natsu let him. He buried his face in Daddy's stomach and gripped his legs as hard as he could, sobbing into his shirt. Him and Layla said something he couldn't hear, then Daddy picked Natsu up and took him inside. Daddy set him on the couch and Layla set Lucy next to him. Natsu turned to her and saw she wasn't crying as hard, but she was still sniffling and shaking. He grabbed Daddy's blanket that was thrown over the back of the couch and put it around her, then he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.

"N-Natsu?" she said, her big brown eyes looking up at him. He held her tighter.

"'m a dragon. I protect the princess," he muttered seriously. "And the princess doesn't get to cry while I'm around." She sniffed harder, then reached around and gripped the back of his shirt. Daddy came close with a wet rag (when did he leave?) and gently cleaned both their faces before dropping next to them and turning Lucy's face.

"It'll heal in a few weeks," he said after a second.

"Well, I suppose you're the cuts and bruises expert," Layla said thoughtfully. Daddy grumbled.

"What's that s'posed to mean?"

Natsu ignored them because he heard Lucy making a little hurting noise. He turned her around so they sat shoulder to shoulder, and slowly, she pushed the blanket until it covered both of them. She wasn't crying anymore as she crawled into Natsu's side, pulling up her knees and letting her short hair tickle his arm.

"You're really nice, Natsu," she muttered.

"Dragons are nice."

"But you're not this nice. You like to pull my hair and take Michelle and tell me I'm weird."

"...Nah, you're still weird," he said loudly. "But...eh...'s not that bad."

The rain started up again, and the peaceful noise made Lucy relax more against him. Natsu, too, had a tough time keeping his eyes open. The last thing he saw was Daddy grinning in his face.

"Don't like her, do you?" he teased. Natsu made a face and moved a little so Lucy could be more comfortable.

"Nope." Daddy's laughter chased him into his dreams.


	5. The Best Dichotomy

**SEPTEMBER 11TH — SUNSET**

 **"** **The Best Dichotomy"**

Natsu arrived three hours late to their date when the sun had already begun to set. And when he did arrive, it was with plenty of bruises, mud all on his jeans, part of his shirt torn, one shoe on, and with a long cut streaming blood down his forehead. He dropped down onto the picnic blanket with a massive groan and leaned against Lucy's shoulder.

"What happened?" she asked with a small smile. She was upset at first, but as she could clearly see, he'd gotten what was coming to him for being late already.

"Fullbuster looked at me the wrong way," he muttered, picking a rotten banana peel from his hair. Apparently, garbage was involved too. "And...we got a little carried away. Down the street. We rolled and grappled for at least two miles. There were many police cars."

"Natsu," she half-whined. He gave her an easy smile that made her remember, despite his many (understatement of the year) quirks and flaws, why she fell so hard in love with him. She sighed and wet her handkerchief from her water bottle and started wiping at his face.

"Seriously, Luce?" he complained, trying to pull away. One look from her stopped that immediately.

"I know you're strong and whatnot, but stop being so dang reckless, okay?" She flicked his nose, earning a small "ow" from him when he looked away.

"Sorry," he muttered. She huffed and folded her hands primly over her denim skirt.

"Well, you're here now. That's something."

"Yeah." They watched the sun change from gold to dark red and orange, then suddenly blades of grass were raining down. Lucy looked over to see Natsu plucking grass from the hill and throwing it in the air. "Woo-hoo!" he yelled.

"What's wrong with you?" she said, but she had to fit back some giggles to get it out. And she would've been lying if she said she didn't love Natsu for his off-the-walls randomness.

"It's a celebration," he said with a laugh.

"The sun sets every day, moron," she smiled. He turned to her then, and the intensity in his eyes made her catch her breath.

"Being with you, that's worth celebrating," he clarified in a low tone that made her flush all the way to her toes. Then he broke the mood with a wide smile as he gently grasped the back of her head, bringing their foreheads together.

"I thought we were watching the su-sunset." Her breath hitched when he planted a little kiss on her lips, then he chuckled.

"The sun sets every day," he repeated. "But I only get to see you a little bit. So I wanna enjoy it."

He was hardheaded, he was sweet, he was absentmindedly violent, and he was absolutely perfect. He was hers, and she wouldn't have it any other way.


	6. Growing Pains

**SEPTEMBER 12TH — ADVENTURE**

 **"** **Growing Pains"**

"Your name is Etherious Natsu Dragneel," his creator said in a soft voice. "And you are my brother."

Those words were the first he ever heard, and they carved the mold in which Natsu would fit the rest of his life. More pieces would define his features as the ages went on: he was a demon called an Etherious, he was impossibly tough to kill, he had both Dark Magic and Fire Magic to control, he was one who struck fear by just his name…

But the baby girl, she was unafraid. He wondered why.

Natsu was trained in the art of fighting, and he was also trained to change his form as he pleased. Brother said it was something for him to do at his leisure, but he didn't think so. He hadn't known Brother long at that point, but he did know Brother did things for a certain...purpose. If he gave Natsu two forms to shift between, it was for a use he would need later. But, if he had the option, he chose to look like a man.

The little girl liked his demon form more though.

Physically, he peaked early, but biologically, according to Brother, there would be no end for him but a magically-induced death. Humans were a different story. Humans were born with a very short time limit, and — as Brother told him, the only time his calm exterior ever broke — there was no bringing back a human. There was, and would only ever be, creating demons.

The girl said _You're not a demon though. You're the cuddliest person ever...with horns._

Often, very often, more often than he could write with his limited understanding of that, he wondered what his purpose was — what _any_ of the Etherious's purposes were, because Brother made more of them. He asked Brother once, and he only smiled and said sweet nothings to abate Natsu's worries. Natsu worried regardless, especially when he became aware of an odd occurrence: occasionally, maybe once every lunar cycle, he would wake up after a blackout with numerous sore spots all over his body like a rash. Brother wasn't too concerned and told Natsu not to be either. Natsu supposed that was when he began to grow a sense of self-awareness.

She found it funny. She told him all people had self-awareness and that he only did what Brother told him to because he didn't want to think of doing anything else. For the first time, he became angry at her, and through that anger came recklessness. He didn't cover his tracks as well as he had been, and Brother found out. He was amazed that didn't happen sooner with how smart Brother was. Then again, Brother didn't act without a purpose.

Brother did... _something_ to him that made him black out again, but this time was different, he could feel it. When he awoke, Brother was smiling, but Natsu was only concerned with getting away. He ran back to where he met the girl in her small town, and she was still there alive and well. He grabbed her hand to ensure her corporeality and pain struck through both — both because he could hear her screams ringing through his ears. When he woke up again, she was gone. He didn't see her again for many years, but he could... _feel_ her.

It was something he never told Brother in fear of Brother taking it the wrong way, but Natsu had begun to feel her. He felt her fear, her dismay, her anxiety as she awoke, and many things more as the days went on. He tried to go about his daily life, but the girl's presence had irreversibly grown in his mind: she was no longer a passing interest, but an integral part of his existence. Whether he wanted to or not, he could feel her every emotion, and while he certainly didn't want such a thing to happen, they began to imprint on him.

The day that set everything off, he woke with a strange feeling filling his chest. It made him feel like he was flying above all his troubles, like he still possessed a beating heart. **_Love._** The word bounced around his skull and he mouthed it absently throughout the day. It made him smile every time he thought about it...then Brother called him down. And, as Natsu went face-to-face with him, he was struck by the most shocking realization of his life:

He did not love Brother, not at all.

If anything, Natsu _resented_ him.

The words lay sour on his tongue and not even Brother could coax them out. Eventually he let Natsu go, a pensive look on his face. It was the last time he would see Brother's face for a long time, because that night, Natsu ran. He didn't know what he was looking for, if it was the girl or adventure itself, but he ran. And his heart lifted and he placed another emotion — **_happiness._**

He didn't find the girl in town in her home, so he went looking elsewhere. He never stopped to consider she was dead because he could still feel all she felt, and while it majorly helped him develop, it wasn't all fun and games. Sickness, for example, was a terrible, horrible sensation he loathed on humanity's behalf, particularly motion sickness. He got the sense she was moving, and suddenly his sense of balance was all off, and he felt grossly dizzy and nauseous. Pain was also a very potent sensation; although he thought it to be purely physical, like the warm pain he felt from her in his lower abdomen occasionally, it sometimes was abstract, a baseless hurt that made him want to curl up and cry.

Was that what it meant to be human? Brother was human and he never shifted through so many emotions — neither did the other Etherious. As the days passed and he traveled farther and farther, seeing many humans in their towns and on the road, it started to make sense: they were missing _something,_ this tiny bit of something that all humans possessed. Not all humans utilized it, like the three or so groups that tried to rob him on his way before he cleanly curb-stomped them, but they all had that ability to birth, process, and give a piece of themselves to others. He received it with every wave and smile he was given, and from every sensation he received from her. They built upon themselves over time and suddenly, as he awoke and squinted at the blinding sun in the middle of the desert, he realized he could feel. He wasn't feeling her emotions any longer, but he was feeling his own.

It made him feel real. It made him feel _alive._ It made him feel...no, it made him human.

* * *

After so long, he was almost startled to feel something from the girl again. It was also a very strong feeling; she was close, he could tell. In the next town was a main area, and on top of a wooden stage was a dancing woman. Her long blonde hair and amber eyes were vaguely familiar, and as she executed a full turn that had her gold and green skirt twirling around her ankles, her eyes landed on his. And she felt, and he felt, and he knew she was who he had been searching for.

With a tiny choked noise, she picked up her skirts and stumbled down the steps before pushing through the little crowd. They turned in interest as she ran up to Natsu, eyes squinted, then they widened and a wide smile crossed her face. She leapt on him with her arms clasped around his neck, happy tears running down her cheeks. He reached out and clasped her slim waist in return. The day that set everything off, he woke with a strange feeling filling his chest. It made him feel like he was flying above all his troubles, like he still possessed a beating heart. That feeling returned twofold: once from him, another time from her.

"All these years and I've never stopped feeling your heart," she whispered in his ear, the smile clear in her voice. He let out a noise that could've been a sob or a laugh — he wasn't too sure himself. He set her down and took her hand, savoring the sensation of the **_love_** passing between them, love born from shared experiences and understanding over a too long time.

"My name is Etherious Natsu Dragneel," he said in a soft voice, squeezing her hand. "And you are my love."


	7. In a Hoop that Never Ends

**SEPTEMBER 13TH — PROTECTION**

 **"** **In A Hoop That Never Ends"**

I didn't think about it for a second; my legs just moved on their own. One second I was standing across the sandy plains watching the magical bullet fly towards Natsu's heart, and the next second I was on the ground with unimaginable pain burning through my left side. Even with the searing agony, I shivered like mad on the uncomfortable ground.

"Lucy! Oh, gods—Lucy!" Natsu's voice rang urgent in my ears as he grabbed my hands and tried to pry them away from where they clenched around the entry point. My eyes stayed squinted shut as I let him, and I was glad I couldn't see his face, because the next sound that came from him was a sob. "This...this is bad..."

"Oi, Zhao, you fuckin' missed 'im!" the leader of the mercenary Guild called out. Natsu's hand laid gentle on my shoulder, but the growl that came from his chest was pure anger.

"You have five seconds," he muttered in a voice so even it was terrifying. "Five seconds to get your asses out of my line of sight before I turn you to charcoal."

"Heh!" The four men laughed loudly and disdainfully while the pain in my side grew more potent. I whimpered against my will and Natsu's grip tightened. "Like you ever had a chance to—"

" _Five_ ," he said, and I didn't hear anything after that, but I felt the air temperature spike exponentially. When I managed to open one eye, I saw the tall yellow grass had been reduced to crumbling brown bits for dozens of feet all around. I didn't dare look over my shoulder at the men...or what would have been left of them.

"Natsu—" I choked with pain for a second and he made a little distressed sound.

"Don't talk!"

"Natsu...get the bullet out...it's sapping my magic." Every word hurt, but it was important he understood what to do.

"Wha...how do I..." His floundering was cut off by a flash of light. Loki's hand joined his over my arm and he let out a little pained noise.

"Lucy," he said pitifully, a shaky smile on his face. I managed to laugh.

"That's not a lady-killing smile, Loki." He laughed too, but it wasn't entirely out of humor. Then he looked at Natsu and held out a long pair of tweezers.

"The nearest town is half a mile off." He looked down at the wound and the thick clots of blood saturating my shirt and the dirt. "She's lost too much blood to make it that far, and I'm afraid of what'll happen if she goes through the Spirit World… You'll have to remove the bullet and watch over her while I go over there to get help."

"Can't you do it?" he said desperately, eyes going between mine and Loki's. Loki shook his head sadly.

"I've already exhausted a lot of my magic in the fight earlier." True, he was the star of my team when we first encountered the Guild, and he wasn't known for his leniency. His hand flickered in and out of sight around the tweezers. "I barely have enough to maintain my form. It'll take all I have left to return to this world so far from my Key. Natsu, please."

I'd lost so much blood it was getting hard to keep my eyes open. Natsu looked at me again, pressed his lips into a thin line, and took the tweezers. "Hurry up, Loki," he muttered, getting on his knees next to me. I heard Loki disappear as Natsu rolled up my shirt. Whatever he saw made his face go white. "Why did you do that?" he said quietly. It sounded like his voice would break if he spoke any louder.

"Di'n...want you to...hurt," I murmured, feeling too exhausted to work my tongue properly. He sucked in a startled breath as he bent over my side.

"I _am_ hurting," he said in a flat tone before the tweezers went in. I sucked in a breath as pain sparked bright and colorful in my vision, but I didn't want to scream, didn't want to make him worry more. The sensation lasted a few seconds before he shifted and I heard something small hit the ground behind me. "Okay, okay, what next?" His breath came heavy and disjointed.

"Wait..."

"But, Lucy, blood, your blood—" He stopped, and it took me a moment to realize my eyes had closed. I forced them open again. " _Why did you do that?_ " he repeated in a shakier voice.

"He...was 'onna...kill you..."

"And you think it's better if you die instead?" He shook me a little as a distressed little laugh came from him. "Gods, Lucy, you're too smart for this. Still bleeding, still...what do I do whatdoidowhatdoido!?" Then his eyes widened and he reached down to grab my hand. His rough fingers were solid and reassuring against my skin. "Lucy, this will hurt," he said a second before fire raced across my side. This time, I screamed, and Natsu turned away from me. The seconds seemed to drag on into years before finally, finally, the heat disappeared and Natsu slumped back.

"Stopped the bleeding," he said weakly. I wondered if it mattered at this point, if I hadn't already lost too much blood. "I'm supposed to protect you, ya know. That's what dragons do." I didn't have the energy to speak anymore, but I managed to scoff. He leaned closer and lifted my face so I had to look him in the eye. The green of his irises was more visible with the tears shining across the surface. "I lost you once, and I don't want to feel that pain again." It took me a minute with how sluggish my mind felt, but I recalled a me from another time, who also threw herself to take what she knew could very well be a fatal blow. I guess I hadn't changed even in several years.

 _Your heart stopped too back then. You think_ I _wasn't pained when I almost lost_ you? _Get real, Natsu._

He made another choked noise and sat back on his heels, burying his face in his sleeve. He didn't sob out loud, but I could hear his breathing hitch and break several times. He thought it was his job to protect me, but I thought the same about him. It was a weird circle that would spin on and on without end.

I blacked out for a little bit, because when I opened my eyes again, the sun was further in the sky and Natsu was on his feet waving and shouting at someone. Soon after, someone else stooped behind me and gentle hands turned me onto a stretcher. My eyelids were too heavy to raise again, so I only saw the people's legs as he lifted me into the back of a magical vehicle. They stuck a couple needles into my wrists and a machine started to beep slowly in time with my heart. I inwardly laughed — I'd seen Natsu in this position countless times, but I only remembered being this bad off during the Grand Magic Games. His voice melted with the others' as he argued with them, but I didn't need to understand the words to know he wanted to be with me here.

 _He thinks he's supposed to protect me, and I think I'm supposed to protect him._ I wondered if it was because we loved each other, or because we felt responsible for one another. Or maybe it was both: we felt responsible for the other because we loved that person completely, like how Loki was willing to let himself die because he loved and anguished over Karen Lilica. Whatever the case was, the stuff getting pumped into my veins made me even sleepier, and I decided to let the thought rest until the morning. It wasn't a rush anyway; it wasn't like I was going anywhere, not if I could be with him.


	8. A Rose by Any Other Name

**SEPTEMBER 14TH — FUTURE**

 **"** **A Rose by Any Other Name..."**

"'morning, Miss Mira!" Mira looked up from the mug she was polishing to see a fuzzy pink head grinning at her. She smiled sweetly in return, bending over to meet the girl's eyes.

"Good morning to you too, Tsubaki. Orange juice?"

"Nuh!" She shook her head vigorously and climbed onto the bar stool to make them more level. She was eight and five quarters as she'd happily tell anyone who asked — well, she generally was happy, a trait from both her parents. Her hair stuck out in wild curls and she had a laugh that could soften even Laxus's heart, loathe as he was to admit it. Makarov was only praying she inherited her mother's calm spirit as she grew into her magic.

"Don Perry-non, please," Tsubaki went on to say. Mira looked at her with wide eyes.

"You know that's not a children's drink?"

"Duh!" she said with a giggle. "It's for Mama and Daddy!"

Oh. Well, that made more sense. Mira inclined her head curiously. "Did they ask for it?"

"Nuh, it's a surprise for their anniversary. Me 'n Iggy have it all planned out." She smiled triumphantly and stuck a thumb into her chest. That was such a Natsu-ish thing to do that Mira laughed aloud.

"Alright, alright, here..." Rooting through the bottles on the shelves for a moment, she pulled a shiny olive-colored bottle and set it on the counter. Tsubaki nodded seriously and pulled a crumpled wad of Jewel from the chest pocket of her overalls. "No, it's okay. Call it a gift from me for their anniversary."

Tsubaki's eyes widened more than should've been humanly possible, and Mira kept a smile on even as she wanted to explode from the cuteness. Then Tsubaki vaulted over the counter to hug Mira around the waist. "Thank you so much, Miss Mira!"

Mira squealed inwardly as she returned the hug. She didn't think the Master would have much to worry about.

* * *

Gray was just about to lay the final card on the tower when the door to his apartment was unceremoniously slammed open. He hit the table and the whole house came tumbling down. Letting out a great sigh, he turned to the only person left without a care of personal boundaries.

"What can I help you with now, Iggy?"

"Need something from you, Ice Princess." Iggy's shaggy blond hair hung untamed around Natsu's loosely wrapped scarf, and he had his hands buried in his jeans as he sauntered in and flopped onto Gray's leather couch. He mentioned in passing he liked the smell of leather, so the couch became his prime bum spot whenever he felt the need to burst in, which was often. Not that Gray minded; he still butted heads with Natsu now and again, but his son, while trying his damnest to be Natsu's carbon copy, was so... _alive,_ in a different sense of the word.

With his magic heightening his senses, he sought every interesting smell, taste, and sight he could find, and he kept a journal that he didn't mind showing Gray, as red-faced as he got on the subject. He had a way with words that certainly came from his mother, which showed as he tried to jot down his experiences with the world, and although he wasn't even twelve yet, Gray felt assured he could be a writer if he tried.

—Not that he ever told Iggy that. Just because his fire was weaker than Natsu's didn't make it any more pleasant to be attacked with.

"A sculpture." He pulled a folded piece of paper from the scarf and handed it over. Unfolding it, Gray saw a drawing most certainly done by Reedus from the level of detail. He raised his eyes back to Iggy's amber ones with a curious eyebrow raised.

"You're interested in my sculptures now?"

"Hell no," he scowled, a blush crossing his cheeks. "It's for my folks. It's their anniversary, ya know. Tsubaki's doing her part so I'm doing mine or whatever." The red of his face deepened under Gray's scrutiny and he shrunk into his scarf in a familiar show of petulance. Gray grinned to himself when he wasn't looking. If only it'd been so easy to get under Natsu's skin, their childhood would have been _so much_ more enjoyable.

"Do you have a way to carry it?" Iggy looked up at him in confusion. "You know you have Fire Magic. It'll melt if you hold it too long."

"I, err..." He skewed his mouth and turned away. Gray sighed dramatically and folded his arms.

"Guess I'll have to carry it for you." Iggy was more red than tan at that point and he muttered something that sounded like gratitude if Gray skewed his ears a little. Yeah, he didn't mind the little Natsu brat so much.

* * *

Lucy was just about to take the pot of stew from the stove when familiar arms wrapped around her waist. "Happy anniversary," he said into her ear, a smile clear in his voice. She turned around to press her lips to his, clutching him around the neck. It was still funny to feel warm skin and the short scar there instead of the rugged fabric of Igneel's scarf. She giggled when he moved his lip to her neck, then gasped when he lightly bit there.

"Where're the kids?" he murmured against her skin.

"N-No idea...probably the Guild..." she said between breaths. They learned some time ago not to worry too much about them; Magnolia was very safe nowadays, and in the event something did happen, both had enough magic to cause the damage Fairy Tail was known for.

"Did you just want to get us alone?" He smirked up at her and she smiled breathlessly back at him.

"The stew's gonna burn, you know."

He jumped back from her with hands up like he was under arrest. She laughed to herself as she moved the pot to an off burner to let it cool. "Any plans?" she asked, leaning against the counter. He rolled up the sleeves of his red shirt with a devious grin.

"I plan on eating your delicious stew." she rolled her eyes with a fond smile.

"What happened to all the grand gestures? Our fifth anniversary was you cleaning my apartment for a change. It was almost as shocking as the uprooted sakura tree."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he said with pink cheeks. Twelve years later and he still wanted to deny it. "And you don't know what'll happen tonight. You haven't seen a grand gesture yet." It was her turn to blush as he laughed. The sound of the door opening caught them off guard, then Iggy's voice rang through the house.

"I'll start serving dinner," Lucy said, reaching into the cupboards for the bowl. Natsu went to the living room and let out a surprised and excited laugh. Lucy smiled to herself — maybe Iggy learned another move? He loved Tsubaki all the same, but something about Iggy having an affinity for his magic turned him into a teen all over again. Of course, Lucy couldn't pretend she didn't feel the same about Tsubaki's budding summoning talent. She set the table and filled the bowls for the three of them, and she was just about to take out some bread when Tsubaki called for her happily. "Coming!" Lucy replied, pulling her apron off and pushing her hair over her shoulders. She walked into the living room with a smile—

" _Happy anniversary!_ "

She was floored as a good portion of their Guild mates crowded into their living room with various gifts and their own kids shouting congratulations. To top it off, the centerpiece of the crowd was an ice sculpture formed into a Celestial Key, and a dragon's head was the symbol in the head. She stared on in shock for a few seconds before a little pink head barreled into her waist. "Happy anniversary, Mama!" Tsubaki said.

"Happy anniversary, Mom," Iggy said from the side, a wide grin on his face. Lucy's smile turned wobbly and she reached up to scrub at her eye.

"Happy tears?" Natsu asked from Gray's side, a knowing look on his face. She laughed a little.

"Happy tears."

Later that night, after Makarov started a drunken round of "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall", Gajeel and Levy's twins served Iggy to the ground in a magic fight, Mirajane presented Lucy with a box of "toys" wink-wink, Macao and Wakaba sobbed over their own lost youth, Wendy taught Tsubaki how to braid Lucy's hair, and Juvia made the toilet go awry on accident, Natsu and Lucy lay in bed together, each kid under each arm as they snoozed away happily.

"It wasn't your idea, was it?" Lucy asked him. He blew out a breath and chuckled quietly.

"My idea went up in smoke already. But we'll be revisiting Mira's present later." She reached over to hit his shoulder, mindful of Tsubaki sleeping on his chest. "Even though it wasn't my idea, I can't think of anything better."

"I can." He looked at her with wide eyes and she grinned. "Having the best husband on Earthland."

"Or the best wife." She looked at Igneel's face, line-free and peaceful in his sleep, and kissed his forehead.

"Or the best kids?"

"Nothin' better than that."

"Best Guild?" His mouth skewed into a cute pout.

"Goodnight, Lucy." She laughed and hit his shoulder again.

"Goodnight, you baby."


	9. The Matching Set

**SEPTEMBER 15TH — PLUSHIES**

 **"** **The Matching Set"**

"Come one, come all, come grab one of Fairy Tail's new limited edition plushies!" Max called to every passerby, waving his own likeness in his hand. Lucy looked up from where she was writing at the cafe table.

"Plushies of us?" she said, dropping her journal into her purse and heading to the gift shop. True, there were two tables full of at least two dozen Guild members, some with three versions of different outfits. She had to admit, Erza's plush was done well in her Heaven's Wheel armor. "Hey, Max, how much for one?"

"Fifteen hundred Jewel." She stopped as she was reaching for her purse and raised her eyebrows.

"That's a little expensive for some dolls, don't you think?"

"Ah, but these aren't just any dolls," he said loudly, waggling his fingers in her face. She swatted his hand away with a flat expression and he sighed, dropping the theatrics. "They were sewed with enchanted cloth. For non-wizards, it's not a big deal, but you can add a little magic into them and..." He demonstrated with his own plush. It glowed yellow for a second, then it blinked its black eyes and gave her finger-guns. It emulated Max as he laughed. "Cool, ain't it?"

"Very," she said in the same flat tone. She jumped a little as Levy and Gajeel appeared next to her, peering at the sets.

"Hey, Gajeel, it's you!" Levy giggled as she picked up the Dragon Slayer's small likeness. Gajeel snorted and folded his arms.

"Looks cheap to me."

Levy smirked as the doll glowed white, then it folded its stubby arms as well, giving them a very accurate scowl. He flushed a little beneath his tanned skin and turned away, then a smirk crossed his face when he snatched up Levy's doll. It glowed grey, then folded its arms and turned away petulantly. It was Levy's turn to blush now. Gajeel slapped down Jewel for both the dolls and walked off with them, laughing maniacally as Levy trotted after him with fists raised.

"They make money," Max pointed out. Lucy pouted.

"Well, I still think they're pretty expensive, enchanted or not." She looked over the spread again and noticed what was missing. "Hey, where are my dolls?"

"Natsu bought 'em out," he shrugged. Lucy's eyes widened and she rubbed her ear.

"I'm sorry?"

"Right when the stand opened. He was here early looking for request, saw the Lucy plushies, and he went and bought me out. There were two cases full."

"I'm sorry?" she repeated, having a hard time processing it. She stepped away and bowed automatically before starting a brisk walk down the avenue. _He must be kidding,_ she thought as she headed towards the town's limits. _There's no way Natsu would've bought two cases of that stuff, especially for fifteen hundred Jewel apiece._

Natsu and Happy's home was quiet as she approached, and she wondered if he was even home. Then, as she raised her hand to knock, she heard a low growl coming from inside. Then there was Happy voice: "Natsu…"

Curiosity peaked, she opened the door to find Natsu _drowning_ in all the Lucy plushies. Some were of her usual everyday wear, some had her cheer-leading outfit from the Fantasia festival, and some had...a bunny girl costume dear gods. Happy was floating above Natsu's head trying to pull a plush from his grip while Natsu stared on and growled. She might have been worried — he didn't usually growl at Happy — but something about his facial expression threw her off. He didn't look _angry,_ per se.

"Lucy!" Happy wailed in relief when he saw her and flew into her chest. Natsu snatched the doll back with a pleased purr and rolled back into the fold. She petted his fuzzy head as she stepped closer. He was...no, he couldn't have been...but she _had_ seen weirder things.

"Natsu," she said with a long sigh. He looked up at her with half-lidded eyes, but it did nothing to hide how blown his pupils were.

"Mine," he said flatly and clutched as many dolls as he could to his chest. "Miiiine."

"He's been like that all day," Happy whined. Lucy rolled her eyes with a little smile.

"Dragons do love their hoard, although I wish they all didn't have my face..." Natsu looked at her again, eyes squinted in concentration, then his hand snapped out with record speed and seized her wrist. She let out a surprised noise and released Happy as he tugged her to the ground with him and his arms went around her.

"Mine!" he said with a happy rumble in his chest. She blushed all the way down to her inner organs as he nuzzled her hair and cheek.

"Tell me there's a cure for this," she said to Happy. Happy stared for a moment before shrugging.

"When he gets bored?"

"Ha-ppy," she complained. Natsu held her tighter and her heart fluttered a bit. But not because she liked him. Nope.

"Mine," he repeated with a lazy grin. And she thought, who was she kidding, she had been his for a very long time before that.

"Yours," she said softly, then pulled a doll between them. She added dryly, "All five dozen of me."


End file.
